Denver Summit Schools Network

Fostering Innovation, Transforming Communities

What does it take to improve educational outcomes for an entire community of children?

The DPS Foundation has helped fund one of the nation’s most ambitious and comprehensive school turnaround projects known as the Denver Summit Schools Network (DSSN) to improve an entire feeder pattern of persistently low performing schools in Far Northeast Denver. The DPS Foundation secured $4.2 million in private funding to leverage an additional $16 million in federal turnaround dollars to support the DSSN initiative.

Thanks to this generous community support, DPS partnered with some of the greatest minds in school reform to build, implement and evaluate the DSSN, including Blueprint Schools Network and the Education Innovation Laboratory at Harvard University. Together with these partners, DPS determined the five core strategies for improvement in Far Northeast Denver, based on national research about the common characteristics of high performing schools.

Taking it to Scale

Early results from the high-dosage math tutoring in the DSSN showed many students advancing multiple grade levels in a single year. This progress helped DSSN classes achieve a five-year record high in the number of students scoring proficient or advanced in math. This remarkable success allowed DPS to make a case for expanding the program using public funding, which voters approved in a 2012 mill levy (3A). DPS is now implementing similar math tutoring in classrooms across DPS. This is a shining example of private investment allowing school leaders to identify, incubate and evaluate promising new programs, leveraging them into scaled, sustainable solutions for all students.

Your support is changing the odds. Not just for the 88,000 students in Denver Public Schools today, but for the many thousands of students who will follow them for generations to come. You’re changing the course of education in our country.